After the chaos of last night, a gloomy atmosphere had fallen in the village. The villagers were silently mourning for the lives they had lost while preparing for their funerals. The help they needed had finally arrived, but it was too late. Many families were broken last night. Some had lost one or two people. Others had their whole family wiped away. In just a few hours, almost half of the villagers were gone.
People dressed in camouflage uniforms were helping clean up. The bodies of the villagers who had died were lined up at one side. At the same time, the demons were piled in the cars.
At a side, a young woman with showy white hair stared at those strange-looking cars. It's not that Azalea had never seen a car before, but she had never seen one that floated above the ground. Even with magic, they were not able to achieve this.
How long had she been gone for the world to change this much?
A figure appeared before her, blocking her view. She looked up, her pale gray eyes met with dark ones. Those pair of eyes were cold, void of any emotions, and so deep like a void that seemed to suck anyone in them who dared to look at them for a moment longer.
She remembered those military people referring to him as General, but wasn't he too young for this title? And too handsome as well.
"What is your name?"
Sylas stared down at the young woman before him for a second longer before looking back at the glass screen in his hand, which was showing information about every villager along with their pictures. He had not seen this woman's face in it. There were chances he might have accidentally skipped her, but her appearance was too eye-catching for him to make that mistake.
"Azalea,"
"What family?" He asked further while looking for her name. When he did not receive an answer, he looked up to find a small frown on her face.
"She is my sister," a new voice jumped in, followed by a young boy who appeared next to him.
Sylas stared at the brown haired, scrawny boy and then at the girl.
Kael cleared his throat, "I mean, she is my older sister from the orphanage."
That was the best answer he could give without making these people suspect her identity. Children from orphanages, especially from small villages like theirs, went unregistered. He himself was not registered until he went for selection exams for the first time.
The villagers who heard him did not step in to tell the truth. In fact, they all supported Kael's method even if they did not discuss it before. They were indebted to her for saving their lives and would do anything to protect her. It was a silent agreement between them.
Kael gave a reassuring glance to Azalea as if saying he got everything under control.
Azalea: "..."
"How old are you?" Sylas questioned.
Azalea opened her mouth, but Kael answered before she could utter a word. "Seventeen."
Azalea blinked. Did she really look this young? She clearly remembered she was twenty-three years old before she fell asleep. She wasn't sure how old she was now.
Sylas frowned and narrowed his eyes at Kael. "Can't she give the answer herself?"
"No, she can't," Kael thought to himself.
She was a goddess living in a world where gods had long disappeared. Who knows what these people would do if they found out?
If Azalea could hear what he was thinking, she would tell him that he was thinking too highly of her. She was nothing compared to those narcissistic immortals.
Sylas did not stay there any longer lest he lose his temper because of this kid. But he did send someone to register her identity.
"Please stand still and try not to move."
Azalea did as she was told and looked at the small metallic sphere that was floating a few feet away from her. A light came out of it and scanned Azalea's body from head to bottom.
"Identity registered. Name: Azalea Theon. Age: Seventeen," a female mechanical voice began to give details of her identity.
"Thank you for your compliance. Have a good day." The spear said before floating away.
Azalea stared at it, amazed.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Kael sat next to her in excitement. "You should see the other robots. This little one is nothing compared to it. Our village to far from the city and is quite poor, so you won't see much of these things here."
"What about magic?" Azalea asked the question that she had wanted to ask since she woke up.
She had barely noticed any energy fluctuation from these villagers. Though these military personnel seemed better, their grade made Azalea blush in embarrassment when she compared them to those of her time.
Her gaze flickered to that general who seemed to be talking to the village chief, and something flickered in her eyes that Kael failed to notice.
'It has weakened ever since the gods disappeared,"
"Gods disappeared?" Azalea looked at him, confused.
"No one knows why they left, but some stories say that the gods were angered by the people and were abandoned. Other says they had gone to another world. Anyway, no one knows the truth except the gods themselves."
"Oh," Azalea replied, not noting the strange look he was giving her.
Keal looked around before lowering his voice in a low voice, "So...what is the truth?"
"Huh?" Azalea blinked before she understood what he meant. She gave a small chuckle. "How am I supposed to know that? I was sleeping. Remember?"
"Oh yes, how could I forget. So, how long have you been sleeping? And why were you sleeping in a coffin?"
Azalea scratched her nose. "How long has it been since the Great War?"
As for the second question, she wanted to know the answer herself. She wanted to meet and have a good talk with the person who thought it was a good idea to build a temple for her and put her in a coffin underground.
Kael gasped out loud. "Yo-you...how are you alive for this long?"
But then he remembered that she was a goddess, so it made sense. So she is from the time of the Great War? This made him look at her with new light. He had heard stories of how one man could take down dozens of demons with a single flick of his hand. Compared to it, her actions seemed like child's play.
The more Kael talked with Azalea, the more he began to treat her like his idol.
Azalea began to ask him questions about this era, and Kael was more than happy to tell her everything. Well, everything he knew was himself. He had slept through all those history lessons in school, so he himself did not know much about it. Thankfully, Raya and Marlin soon joined them. Among them, Marlin was a real history geek and knew almost every significant event in history.
By the time the three kids were done explaining everything, Azalea had a fair understanding of her situation.
Centuries have passed since the great war, and in those years, magic has weakened. It was now replaced with advanced technology, but that did not mean the importance of magic had decreased. If anything, people who had even the slightest potential were revered in society.
Demons were still the greatest threat of this time, which she had already experienced, but she had yet to witness whether these people were capable enough to fight against them.
But what surprised her the most was the fact that now, the other races were no longer living in hiding but could openly walk on this land. They now lived in harmony with humans, and there were even interracial marriages. That was quite unexpected, given how these people were a source of fear and were often associated with demons, even though they had nothing in common. If they were caught, they would be immeditly imprisoned, and some were even sent for experimentation or slavery.
At least people had gotten wise over time, even if they had become weak.